A racegun or race gun is a

firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

that has been modified for accuracy, speed, and reliability. Often a

semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol (also called a self-loading pistol, autopistol, or autoloading pistol) is a repeating firearm, repeating handgun that automatically ejects and loads cartridge (firearms), cartridges in its chamber (firearms), chamber afte ...

, raceguns are used primarily in

practical shooting Practical shooting, also known as dynamic shooting or action shooting, is a set of shooting sports in which the competitors try to unite the three principles of precision, power, and speed, by using a firearm of a certain minimum power factor to ...

competitions and are modified to function best within a certain set of rules, such as weight, size, and capacity requirements.

Use

Raceguns are typically purpose-built for speed, and may be based on common guns. Competitions they may be used in include The Bianchi Cup and the Steel Challenge, and various events organized by the International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA),

International Practical Shooting Confederation The International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) is the world's largest shooting sport association, and the largest and oldest within practical shooting. Founded in 1976, the IPSC nowadays affiliates over 100 regions from Africa, America ...

(IPSC), or

United States Practical Shooting Association The United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) is the national governing body of practical shooting in the United States under the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC). Its over 35,000 active members and over 500 affili ...

(USPSA).

Features

Teemu Rintala at the 2017 IPSC Rifle World Shoot

Typical racegun modifications to

semi-automatic firearm A semi-automatic firearm, also called a self-loading or autoloading firearm ( fully automatic and selective fire firearms are also variations on self-loading firearms), is a repeating firearm whose action mechanism automatically loads a follo ...

s include a match-grade

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden stave (wood), staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers ...

fitted with a recoil compensator, electronic

optical sight A sight or sighting device is any device used to assist in precise visual alignment (i.e. ''aiming'') of weapons, surveying instruments, aircraft equipment, optical illumination equipment or larger optical instruments with the intended target. ...

, match-grade

hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nail (fastener), nails into wood, to sh ...

and sear, a tuned

trigger Trigger may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Trigger (''Only Fools and Horses''), in the TV sitcom * Trigger Argee, in science fiction short stories by James H. Schmitz * Devil Trigger, a transformation ability of ...

, and cutouts to reduce mass ("skeletonizing"). Depending upon competition requirements, some raceguns are modified with reduced-force recoil springs to allow the use of lightly loaded ammunition that is just powerful enough to cycle the gun's mechanism, in order to minimize recoil and permit a faster rate of accurate fire. Additionally, a typical pistol racegun specifically tailored for The Bianchi Cup open division has a "barricade shroud" that completely encircles the

slide Slide or Slides may refer to: Places * Slide, California, former name of Fortuna, California Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Slide'' (Lisa Germano album), 1998 * ''Slide'' (George Clanton album), 2018 *''Slide'', by Patrick Glee ...

with "wings" attached to opposing sides, a "moving target

scope mount Scope mounts are rigid implements used to attach (typically) a telescopic sight or other types of optical sights onto a firearm. The mount can be made integral to the scope body (such as the Zeiss rail) or, more commonly, an external fitting t ...

" with a pivoting base adjustable for predetermined lead depending on the bullet's velocity and speed and direction of the moving target, and a form of grip extension that elevates the gun for better line of sight while shooting in the prone position.

Restrictions

Some sanctioning bodies, such as IPSC and USPSA, require ammunition to meet specific

power factor In electrical engineering, the power factor of an AC power system is defined as the ratio of the ''real power'' absorbed by the electrical load, load to the ''apparent power'' flowing in the circuit. Real power is the average of the instantaneou ...

s. Other organizing bodies, such as the IDPA and the production division of The Bianchi Cup, ban most or all of the modifications that distinguish raceguns from stock firearms, as they feel that such extensive modifications turn the sport into a technology race rather than a true contest of skill, and thus are not "practical"—that is, applicable to real-life self-defense shooting situations. In the case of The Bianchi Cup, restrictions were put in place to increase participation at the grassroots level, in order to reduce the equipment cost associated with competing in the open division. Cost can run upwards of $3,500 or more on a Bianchi racegun, as compared to $400 to $1,000 for a stock gun.

References

External links

Bianchi Cup
at NRA.org
Steel Challenge
Small arms Sports equipment

Use

Features

Restrictions

See also

References

Further reading

External links